Law, psychiatry, and the public treat the term “insanity” (“mental illness”) as if it were a property inherent in, or attributable to, a person, a moral agent; that is, as if it were a phenomenon or fact, like having brown eyes or a broken arm. However, the insanity defense — like any courtroom defense against an accusation — is a tactic, not a fact. Debating the “validity” of insanity defenses is shadowboxing: The “experts” argue about dispositional tactics as if they were empirically verified or verifiable medical observations or facts; they disagree about how the criminal justice system ought to deal with the defendant, not about what the defendant did to his victim.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews